Birmingham City boss John Eustace has hinted that striker Scott Hogan could make an appearance against Reading on Saturday, with his recovery from injury going well.

30-year-old Hogan, a regular thorn in the Royals' side down the years, was missing with a hamstring strain, but could make a surprise run-out on Friday.

Speaking to the media ahead of Friday's clash, Eustace said: "Scott will be touch and go maybe for Reading. There’s an outside chance he will be available, if not then hopefully in the next week or so he will be back in with the group. It’s certainly not a long injury. It’s something we have got to be very careful of.

“The scan showed just a minor problem which is something we are looking at. It’s a relief. Scott is one of the leading goalscorers in the Championship. He has been fantastic all season and we don’t want to lose him. Through the season we are going to get suspensions and injuries, and thankfully this is a very small injury for Scott.”

Reading will be missing defenders Sam Hutchinson and Tom Holmes through injury, however thelikes of Tom McIntyre, Naby Sarr and Scott Dann are all back in contention for Paul Ince.

"Hutch has done a couple of sessions in the gym and will get on the grass tomorrow. He won’t be ready for Birmingham but hopefully for Swansea," Ince confirmed. "Tom [Holmes] felt sick, a sign of concussion, so the protocol comes into play. Whether it actually is concussion, I don’t know, but he has been in today, but he won’t be ready for Friday. 

Reading Chronicle:

"I might use him [Scott Dann] on Friday. He’s done 13 weeks, a lot of training. He’s done more than Tom McIntyre and Naby Sarr, and McIntyre played 70 minutes. It’s great to have him back. You can see he’s a leader from the way he speaks, he’s got Premier League experience and knowledge. We’ve got Naby back now, so we’ve got some real men in our team, which is great. He doesn’t know it yet, but he might be on the bench on Friday."